Fake 'Republican' Group Sends Mailer Endorsing Candidate Who Lost in Primary

The California Republican Taxpayers Association (CRTA), a group exposed by John Hrabe of the Flash Report for its campaign mail irregularities, has struck again–this time sending a mailer to Los Angeles-area voters that includes a Republican candidate who is not actually on the ballot. The mailer endorses–and is partly sponsored by–a variety of other candidates that includes some liberal Democrats as well as some Republican contenders.

The candidate in question, Pablo Kleinman, lost in the primary for the 30th congressional district, but the CRTA has listed him as a candidate in the general election.

advertisement

The error may be an oversight, but underlines the shadowy nature of the “slate card” cottage industry in California, which distributes endorsements to mailing lists in the hope that voters–Republicans, in this case–are fooled into thinking they are official party mailings.

The mailing indicates–in small print–that the CRTA is not, in fact, a Republican Party organization. However, as Hrabe notes, the California Republican Party claims the right to control the use of the label “Republican” in election-related materials.

Faux “endorsements” by the CRTA are bought by candidates or by independent expenditure committees–including Democrats–whose sponsorship is indicated on slate cards by an asterisk.